Numerical homogenization of foam-like structures based on the FE2-approach

The computation of foam–like structures is still a topic of research. There are two basic approaches: the microscopic model where the foam–like structure is entirely resolved by a discretization (e.g. with Timoshenko beams) on a micro level, and the macroscopic approach which is based on a higher order continuum theory. A combination of both of them is the FE²-approach where the mechanical parameters of the macroscopic scale are obtained by solving a Dirichlet boundary value problem for a representative microstructure at each integration point. In this contribution, we present a two–dimensional geometrically nonlinear FE²-framework of first order (classical continuum theories on both scales) where the microstructures are discretized by continuum finite elements based on the p-version. The p-version elements have turned out to be highly efficient for many problems in structural mechanics. Further, a continuum–based approach affords two additional advantages: the formulation of geometrical and material nonlinearities is easier, and there is no problem when dealing with thicker beam–like structures. In our numerical example we will investigate a simple macroscopic shear test. Both the macroscopic load displacement behavior and the evolving anisotropy of the microstructures will be discussed. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Magneto-Mechanically Coupled Phase-Field Model at Large Deformation

The aggregate magneto-mechanical behavior of magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) stems from the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic inclusion and the mechanical properties of the matrix material. We propose a large deformation micro-magnetic theory, to predict the behavior and interaction of ferromagnetic particles inside an elastomeric matrix. A rate-type variational principle, with the magnetization as the order parameter is proposed. A large deformation Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for the time evolution of the magnetization, is obtained directly from the proposed variational principle. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Obtaining Cosserat material parameters by homogenization of a Cauchy continuum

An increasing importance of composites with sandwich architecture and fibre-reinforced components is recognizable especially in aerospace and light weight industry. Due to the inner structure such materials often exhibit a complex behavior. If the ratio of micro- and macroscopic length scales, l and L, violates the condition l/L ≪ 1, a higher order continuum should be used to describe the macroscopic material behavior correctly. The numerical simulation requires reliable material constants, for which the experimental determination is laborious and sometimes impossible. Alternatively homogenization methods can be used for the numerical identification of overall material parameters. A short introduction to the linear Cosserat theory is followed by an extended homogenization procedure to derive the macroscopic material constants of a linear Cosserat continuum. The parameters obtained with a heterogeneous cell are used to simulate different bending load cases. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A consequence of a proof of the one-way function existence for the problem of macroscopic superpositions

One-way functions are functions that are easy to compute but hard to invert. Their existence is an open conjecture; it would imply the existence of intractable problems (i.e. NP-problems which are not in the P complexity class).If true, the existence of one-way functions would have an impact on the theoretical framework of physics, in particularly, quantum mechanics. Such aspect of one-way functions has never been shown before.In the present work, we put forward the following.We can calculate the microscopic state (say, the particle spin in the z direction) of a macroscopic system (a measuring apparatus registering the particle z-spin) by the system macroscopic state (the apparatus output); let us call this association the function F. The question is whether we can compute the function F in the inverse direction. In other words, can we compute the macroscopic state of the system through its microscopic state (the preimage F⁻¹)?In the paper, we assume that the function F is a one-way function. The assumption implies that at the macroscopic level the Schrödinger equation becomes unfeasible to compute. This unfeasibility plays a role of limit of the validity of the linear Schrödinger equation.     

Modelling of macroscopical transient frost processes and microscopical driving forces

The artificial saturation phenomenon due to freeze-thaw cycles is described by a multi-phase and multiscale model (1; 2; 3) formulated within the Theory of Porous Media, (4). It represents partially saturated concrete as a mixture of 5 interacting constituents φ^a, namely the solid skeleton φ^s, the bulk water φ^l, the pore volume occupied by vapour φ^v, the ice φⁱ and the gel water phase φ^p. Most relevant for the model is the distinction between two length scales and their characteristic time scales. The boundary is marked where macroscopic bulk conditions change to surface physics and chemistry. Surface physics and chemistry acting on the nano-scale affect fundamental properties of concrete and consequently the durability of concrete against freeze-thaw. At the macroscopic scale the model describes transient conditions (i.e. water-uptake, heat transport, volume dilatation of 9 %, phase change of first order considering hysteresis) which are characterized by a relatively long time period to reach equilibrium in contrast to the processes modelled on the microstructure. At the microscopic scale the model represents the nanoscopic CSH-gel system consisting of solid CSH and water as a linked system of both components basing on the concept of the “Solid-Liquid Gel System” (5). In the constribution the numerical results of the model are presented with focus on the evaluation of the process zone during the penetration of the melting front into the matrix. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the fragmentation of a torus by random walk

We consider a simple random walk on a discrete torus \input amssym $({\Bbb Z}/N{\Bbb Z})^d$ with dimension d ≥ 3 and large side length N. For a fixed constant u ≥ 0, we study the percolative properties of the vacant set, consisting of the set of vertices not visited by the random walk in its first [uN^d] steps. We prove the existence of two distinct phases of the vacant set in the following sense: If u > 0 is chosen large enough, all components of the vacant set contain no more than (log N)^λ(u) vertices with high probability as N tends to infinity. On the other hand, for small u > 0, there exists a macroscopic component of the vacant set occupying a nondegenerate fraction of the total volume N^d. In dimensions d ≥ 5, we additionally prove that this macroscopic component is unique by showing that all other components have volumes of order at most (log N)^λ(u). Our results thus solve open problems posed by Benjamini and Sznitman, who studied the small u regime in high dimension. The proofs are based on a coupling of the random walk with random interlacements on \input amssym ${\Bbb Z}^d$ . Among other techniques, the construction of this coupling employs a refined use of discrete potential theory. By itself, this coupling strengthens a result by Windisch. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A-B quasiconvexity and implicit partial differential equations

The study of existence of solutions of boundary-value problems for differential inclusions where , is an open subset of , is a compact set, and B is a -valued first order differential operator, is undertaken. As an application, minima of the energy for large magnetic bodies where the magnetization is taken with values on the unit sphere is the induced magnetic field satisfying and is the anisotropic energy density, and the applied external magnetic field is given by , are fully characterized. Setting with , it is shown that E admits a minimizer with if and only if either 0 is on a face of or , where denotes the convex hull of Z. Received: 6 November 2000 / Accepted: 23 January 2001 / Published online: 23 April 2001     

Homothetic Motions at E 4 with Bicomplex Numbers

In this paper, a matrix which is similar to Hamilton operators has been presented to bicomplex numbers in four dimensional Euclidean space E ⁴. We show that if the matrix is obtained from a curve on the Lie group M, then the motion is a homothetic motion. It has been found that the motion defined by a regular curve of order r and derivations curves on the hypersurface M has only one acceleration center of order (r - 1) at every t-instant.     

A projection method for phase field models in micromagnetics

Magnetic materials have been finding increasingly wider areas of application in industry and therefore, as indicated by the reviews [1], [2] and [3], there is an increased interest in the efficient modeling of such materials that have an inherent coupling between the magnetic and mechanical characteristics. A particular challenge in the modeling of such materials is the algorithmic preservation of the geometric constraint on the magnetization field, that remains constant in magnitude [4]. In earlier works, [5] and [6], we presented a phase field model within a geometrically exact incremental variational framework where the geometric property of the magnetization director is exactly preserved pointwise by nonlinear rotational updates at the nodes. In the current work however, we present an alternative approach that involves an operator split along with a projection step for the magnetization vector. This method provides significant advantages in terms of speed and ease of implementation at the cost of the maximum time step size used. The current work therefore presents comparative study of the the two methods. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Lie symmetry of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation and exact linearization in the Minkowski space

In this paper we present a linear representation of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for describing the magnetization of ferromagnetic materials. According to Lie P \Bbb M³⁺¹,P {\Bbb M}^{3+1}, of which the projective proper orthochronous Lorentz group PSO ^o(3,1) left acts. By the Lie symmetry a group preserving scheme is developed, which improves the computational accuracy and efficiency.     

A computational two scaled model for the simulation of micro-heterogeneous low-alloyed TRIP steels

In transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steel a diffusionless austenitic-martensitic phase transformation induced by plastic deformation can be observed, resulting in excellent macroscopic properties. In particular low-alloyed TRIP steels, which can be obtained at lower production costs than high-alloyed TRIP steel, combine this mechanism with a heterogeneous arrangement of different phases at the microscale, namely ferrite, bainite, and retained austenite. The macroscopic behavior is governed by a complex interaction of the phases at the micro-level and the inelastic phase transformation from retained austenite to martensite. A reliable model for low-alloyed TRIP steel should therefore account for these microstructural processes to achieve an accurate macroscopic prediction. To enable this, we focus on a multiscale method often referred to as FE² approach, see [6]. In order to obtain a reasonable representative volume element, a three-dimensional statistically similar representative volume element (SSRVE) [1] can be used. Thereby, also computational costs associated with FE² calculations can be significantly reduced at a comparable prediction quality. The material model used here to capture the above mentioned microstructural phase transformation is based on [3] which was proposed for high alloyed TRIP steels, see also e.g. [8]. Computations based on the proposed two-scale approach are presented here for a three dimensional boundary value problem to show the evolution of phase transformation at the microscale and its effects on the macroscopic properties. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Young‐measure solutions to a generalized Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation

We consider the evolution of microstructure under the dynamics of the generalized Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation (1) with u: ?² → ?. If we model the initial microstructure by a sequence of spatially faster and faster oscillating classical initial data vⁿ, we obtain a sequence of spatially highly oscillatory classical solutions uⁿ. By considering the Young measures (YMs) ν and µ generated by the sequences vⁿ and uⁿ, respectively, as n → ∞, we derive a macroscopic evolution equation for the YM solution µ, and show exemplarily how such a measure‐valued equation can be exploited in order to obtain classical evolution equations for effective (macroscopic) quantities of the microstructure for suitable initial data vⁿ and non‐linearities f. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groups of prime power order and their nonabelian tensor squares

We prove that the nonabelian tensor square of a powerful p-group is again a powerful p-group. Furthermore, If G is powerful, then the exponent of G ⊕ G divides the exponent of G. New bounds for the exponent, rank, and order of various homological functors of a given finite p-group are obtained. In particular, we improve the bound for the order of the Schur multiplier of a given finite p-group obtained by Lubotzky and Mann.     

Second order homogenization method based on higher order finite elements

Modeling materials with lattice-like microstructures like open-cell foams requires an extended continuum mechanical setting on the macroscopic scale, e. g. a micropolar or micromorphic theory. In order to avoid the formulation of constitutive equations a higher order numerical homogenization scheme (FE²) is proposed. Therefore, each integration point possesses its own microstructure which, in the present case, consists of beam-like elements representing the cell walls. In this paper, the microstructures are discretized by continuum-based higher order locking free finite elements with high aspect ratios, leading to a numerically efficient treatment of a local displacement-driven boundary value problem according to the macroscopic strain and curvature. The resulting stress distributions in the microstructures are homogenized to macroscopic stresses and couple stresses. The approach is demonstrated by a numerical example. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Identification of Microstructural Components of Bitumen by Means of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

Accounting for the large variation of asphalt mixes, resulting from variations of constituents and composition, and from the allowance of additives, a multiscale model for asphalt is currently developed at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for “Performance‐based optimization of flexible road pavements”. The multiscale concept allows to relate macroscopic material properties of asphalt to phenomena and material properties of finer scales of observation. Starting with the characterization of the finest scale, i.e., the bitumen‐scale, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is employed. Depending on the mode of measurement (tapping versus pulsed‐force mode), the AFM provides insight into the surface topography or stiffness and adhesion properties of bitumen. The obtained results will serve as input for upscaling in the context of the multiscale model in order to obtain the homogenized material behavior of bitumen at the next‐higher scale, i.e., the mastic‐scale. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Directed polymers in a random environment with heavy tails

We study the model of directed polymers in a random environment in 1 + 1 dimensions, where the distribution at a site has a tail that decays regularly polynomially with power α, where α ∈ (0,2). After proper scaling of temperature β⁻¹, we show strong localization of the polymer to a favorable region in the environment where energy and entropy are best balanced. We prove that this region has a weak limit under linear scaling and identify the limiting distribution as an (α, β)‐indexed family of measures on Lipschitz curves lying inside the 45°‐rotated square with unit diagonal. In particular, this shows order‐n transversal fluctuations of the polymer. If, and only if, α is small enough, we find that there exists a random critical temperature below which, but not above which, the effect of the environment is macroscopic. The results carry over to d + 1 dimensions for d > 1 with minor modifications. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Autoregressive approximation in nonstandard situations: the fractionally integrated and non-invertible cases

Autoregressive models are commonly employed to analyze empirical time series. In practice, however, any autoregressive model will only be an approximation to reality and in order to achieve a reasonable approximation and allow for full generality the order of the autoregression, h say, must be allowed to go to infinity with T, the sample size. Although results are available on the estimation of autoregressive models when h increases indefinitely with T such results are usually predicated on assumptions that exclude (1) non-invertible processes and (2) fractionally integrated processes. In this paper we will investigate the consequences of fitting long autoregressions under regularity conditions that allow for these two situations and where an infinite autoregressive representation of the process need not exist. Uniform convergence rates for the sample autocovariances are derived and corresponding convergence rates for the estimates of AR(h) approximations are established. A central limit theorem for the coefficient estimates is also obtained. An extension of a result on the predictive optimality of AIC to fractional and non-invertible processes is obtained.